Aftermarket Rim Width And Offset Question

[moose0721]

Hey guys,

New here to the site just bought a 2007 RX350. I've tried searching but haven't found a concrete answer yet. OK stock 17's on the RX now. Just bought some 17x7.5 rims from a tire/wheel shop with a +38 offset. Will these fit? Pretty sure stock is +35 but I wanted to be sure they'd fit with that extra 1" of wheel width.

Hoping I don't have to return these!

Aaron

[1990LS400]

Did the seller provide guidance on the suitability of these wheels? One additional inch of width and three additional millimeters of positive offset seem trivial to me but I'm no expert.

If you want a closer match, find a set of 5-spoke wheels from the 2011-2015 L or LE versions of what I sometimes jokingly refer to as the "RX350 Gigante" - the Toyota Sienna. Those wheels are 17"x7" and have the same 35mm offset and 5x4.5 bolt pattern as the original wheels on your RX. I bought a set of 17" Sienna L/LE wheels last year to use with snow tires on my 2014 Sienna Limited which came with 18"x7" wheels. Attached is a photo of one of the 17" Sienna L/LE wheels in its shipping box.

The 10-spoke OEM 18" wheels that came on my Sienna that you can see in the photo should also work on your RX and so should the 6-spoke 19" wheels from the Sienna SE. If the 17's you bought are for use with winter tires, you could use your original wheels for winter and buy different (larger?) wheels for summer use. The downsize of the larger wheels is increased tire cost, faster wear and a firmer ride of lower profile tires but handling might be a bit sharper.

[moose0721]

The seller was a professional tire shop here in canada. She said they would fit my rx350 but people are known to make mistakes right? Rims off a sienna aren't readily available here and I got these 17's at a pretty good deal. The factory lexus ones have curb rash so we wanted to put something nicer on. Is my last resort to run spacers if I want to keep these rims?

[1990LS400]

My take seems to be the same as your tire shop - that the width and offset of your new wheels are close enough. I suppose you could use spacers to decrease the offset as long as the tires don't hit the body but 3 mm of additional offset and 1 inch of additional wheel width isn't much. Can you have that tire shop mount your tires on the new wheels and see how they work?

By the way, the optional wheel size for the RX in 2007 was 18"x7" with a 35mm offset.

I bought my Sienna L/LE winter wheels from http://www.wheelsandcaps.com . Even if you don't buy wheels from them, the size and offset information on their website can be handy when shopping for wheels.

[moose0721]

Alright thanks for the advice. I was looking at spacers this morning. I have some for my gmc sierra they are hub centric with studs attached. I already bought hub centric rings for the lexus to fit the new wheels and was looking at 5mm 5x114.3 slip on spacers for the rear only. Do you think I'd have enough thread left? Kinda got mixed reviews from google. 5mm isn't that much I know but better safe than a wrecked lexus.

Also is 5mm on the rear going to match up with the front? Front looks like it'll clear no problem its just the rear that looks like it'll be close to the strut assembly.

[1990LS400]

I'm looking at 5mm on a ruler and it is "nothing". 5mm + 1/4 inch is right at 10mm. Do you have at least 10mm between your current rear wheel/tire and the rear strut assembly?

I doubt if it would matter if the rear and front track matches perfectly if you were to use spacers only on the rear. But do you need to?

Maybe you could mount one of the new wheels on the rear and measure the clearance between the wheel and strut. If you use the same tire size, the tires are not going to "bulge out" over the wheel rim as much as with your OEM 6 1/2 inch wide wheels.

Edit: I guess it would be 3mm + 1/2 inch additional clearance that you would need. About 17mm. I forgot that your new wheels are 7 1/2 inch wide instead of 7 inch wide.

[moose0721]

Yeah according to the calculator on 1010tires.com - http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Wheel-Offset-Calculator#, I'm looking at a 16mm less inner clearance which equates to just over half an inch. I know by looking under the RX that I have roughly an inch of space between the strut and the tire. That's why I suggested the 5mm spacers. They would further push the rim/tire towards the fender giving better clearance . But we're talking 5mm here.. I just don't know how much clearance between the wheel and the strut is required or safe.. If I just get the spacers I can decide if they need to be installed or not. 5mm slip on is the max I'd go I think. Unless I did 10mm with new studs but then the rear may stick out further than the front.